Scott: I'm sorry but I'm not sure I can answer that. I've never tried to make a 4 minute pie. I understand your concern because of the low dome. If you want me to do an experiment for you, let me know. Or if you (or John) are ever in the Bay Area of California, you are more than welcome to come try it out.

Hey, thanks for the quick response. I already have wheelman testing out his blazing oven at that speed for me too. If you feel like trying a coal oven style (speed) pie, then do it, but I definitely don't expect you to! Depending on the oven and size of the pizza, this is usually a 650ish floor temp.

I would be Glad to try it in the earthstone or the mobile Scott. Next time I bake just bring over some of the dough and style you would like to try out not a problem. we'll set her up at 650 and give it go !JOhn

My dome is 13" and the 18" pies I cooked last week and posted were 4 minute bakes with only coals, no open flame. I'm actually about to cook another one now once the temp drops, but from my experience this far I think the FGM would excel in the same situation.

Thanks very much Robyn. I don't think I would ever be able to do three pies at once, but two pies with nice amount of room would be very nice. It looks like my trepidation between a 41.5 in oven and this one is unfounded.

BTW, I am looking at the 950 C "raised" dome version, which has a 12.8 in dome and larger mouth opening. I am waiting for drawings from the manufacturer. This would allow for baking bread in addition to pizza, but Scott and I are also concerned about the size of mouth, which would go to 11.5in high. Anyone care to comment on how this would affect the performance of the oven for neapolitan and 4 minute bakes?

Here are a few photos of the finished interior of the room. We went for understated at least for now, so it doesn't really stand out when it's closed up. Someday we may do a different wall treatment, we're seeing how the drywall and paint hold up. I have had to wash oil and soot off the wall a couple times, so we're not sure how it will look long-term. If it starts looking stained or dingy, we'll do something.

Here are a few photos of the finished interior of the room. We went for understated at least for now, so it doesn't really stand out when it's closed up. Someday we may do a different wall treatment, we're seeing how the drywall and paint hold up. I have had to wash oil and soot off the wall a couple times, so we're not sure how it will look long-term. If it starts looking stained or dingy, we'll do something.

Thanks, Tee! Since our house is also heated by wood only, storing wood is a way of life here. We live on 3 acres so we have room to store wood, the biggest issue is keeping rodents away from it. My outdoor cats are spoiled so they aren't doing their job as well as they should For the pizza oven, I spend a few hours a couple times a year to split a bunch of very dry wood and we pack it into plastic and cardboard boxes that are sealed and stacked. We have them in my horse barn, in the water heater room, and in my husband's wood shop. We bring in a box as needed. We have a galvanized oval container that will hold a night's worth, that sits under the oven. When I'm pre-heating the oven, I use bigger logs that are set aside from our general wood supply which is usually bay or oak, occasionally madrone. I've found that once the oven is well-heated, it really doesn't require that much of the super-dry split stuff to maintain the flame I need to cook, so I probably only use half a box or less each night for cooking. The preheat uses more wood, but this oven is pretty efficient so I probably use less than others with bigger ovens.

Awesome thread. Love the idea and execution from start to finish. If you continue to have problems with soot or oil on the drywall, you could just cut the drywall out vertically and hang dura-rock. Then you could stick cultured stone, thin brick, or tile as a basic back splash. Glass tile would look good also and would be easy to clean. Thanks for sharing your experience here! Great job!

John: I probably overdo my preheat, because it's easy and I enjoy having the fire going. I have gone from cold to cooking in 2-3 hours and it was fine, but I usually do more like 3-5 hours. That's with a cold start. If I cooked the night before, the next afternoon I'm probably still at 500F-ish, maybe less if I let it cool down some before putting in the insulated door. That cuts down on preheat considerably. I'm not sure the minimum preheat because I've never rushed it. And it usually takes me an hour to build up from kindling to a real blazing fire, which could probably be shortened if I wanted to.

John: I probably overdo my preheat, because it's easy and I enjoy having the fire going. I have gone from cold to cooking in 2-3 hours and it was fine, but I usually do more like 3-5 hours. That's with a cold start. If I cooked the night before, the next afternoon I'm probably still at 500F-ish, maybe less if I let it cool down some before putting in the insulated door. That cuts down on preheat considerably. I'm not sure the minimum preheat because I've never rushed it. And it usually takes me an hour to build up from kindling to a real blazing fire, which could probably be shortened if I wanted to.

Thanks for the info Robyn. I guess I have to come to terms with not being able to cook 45 minutes after firing as I can with my small, less-thick oven.

Here are a few photos of the finished interior of the room. We went for understated at least for now, so it doesn't really stand out when it's closed up. Someday we may do a different wall treatment, we're seeing how the drywall and paint hold up. I have had to wash oil and soot off the wall a couple times, so we're not sure how it will look long-term. If it starts looking stained or dingy, we'll do something.

Here are a few photos of the finished interior of the room. We went for understated at least for now, so it doesn't really stand out when it's closed up. Someday we may do a different wall treatment, we're seeing how the drywall and paint hold up. I have had to wash oil and soot off the wall a couple times, so we're not sure how it will look long-term. If it starts looking stained or dingy, we'll do something.

Great job on the oven.I'm starting to build mine and, after a lot of research, I'm currently planning on building a FGM 950 as well.From what I could tell, it looks like you opted to not install the thermometer. Just wanted to get your or any other FGM owners' thoughts on the thermometer since I read that the thermometer can only handle about 750F.Thanks.

You don't need a thermometer built into your oven. It's just something else to break. 750F is all but worthless for pizza anyway. Get a non-contact IR point thermometer that will do at least 1000F. It will let you check the temp at any spot in the oven - not just where your thermocouple happens to be. You will find other uses for it too.

CL

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"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza."Craig's Neapolitan Garage

You don't need a thermometer built into your oven. It's just something else to break. 750F is all but worthless for pizza anyway. Get a non-contact IR point thermometer that will do at least 1000F. It will let you check the temp at any spot in the oven - not just where your thermocouple happens to be. You will find other uses for it too.

CL

Thanks CL.Already have a good IR thermometer so I'll just forego the built-in thermometer.

Yep, we didn't bother with the thermometer - as Craig advises, we bought an IR. Let me know if you have any questions or anything. You'll love the oven! Are you putting it indoors or out? Brick interior or refractory? What do you plan to do with it?

Yep, we didn't bother with the thermometer - as Craig advises, we bought an IR. Let me know if you have any questions or anything. You'll love the oven! Are you putting it indoors or out? Brick interior or refractory? What do you plan to do with it?

Robyn

Thanks Robyn.I'm building it outside. I didn't buy the oven yet (but will be very soon) as I've been debating between the brick and the refractory and I'm also looking at the raised option, which adds 3" of height. Any thoughts on that? Lower is probably better for pizza, but I plan to make everything I can in the oven: pizza, bread, turkey, steak, stew, etc.